The Impossible Dream
by The Silvercat
Summary: Her family was slaughtered in the raid of a Muskrat and his gang. After being rescued she does something rarely seen by murderforced orphans: she becomes a pacifist and plans to embark on a journey to Salamandastron where war is brewing... FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The late morning sun shone brilliantly down on the forest of Mossflower occasionally fading as fluffy clouds scudded across the bright blue sky. Birds flitted hither and thither in their excitement, exclaiming it loudly through their chirrups and whistles. Spring bustled on the earth in sweet existence as it revived the earth and its citizens.

Adrin Gair enjoyed this side of nature as she delicately picked up a fresh, green leaf on the ground and tilted the dew into her open mouth. Smacking her lips joyfully as she sucked the water, she then dropped the leaf at the base of a tree and darted off onto the makeshift path in the middle of the forest. She whooped loudly and then threw her head back and howled then burst into the clearing where her house resided. Caught in the throws of her imagination and young age, the mousemaid continued sprinting on the grass gleefully, pretending she was being chased by a specter. Or her mother.

"Adrin! Young lady, you will get in here this instant and help me with the cleaning," Adrin's mother's voice carried to her through an open window and Adrin groaned. The last thing she wanted was to be cooped up in a house wiping away dust bunnies on such a glorious day. Deciding to play dumb Adrin snuck up to the house and sat down beneath a window hoping to possibly hide from her mother if she peeked out of it.

Adrin was a white mouse with spotless fur which was combed to pristine flatness. Her black eyes contrasted sharply with her white fur, but they were warm and currently crinkled into a smile as she tried to fool her mother.

"Adrin, you should get in there and help your mother. It's only the right thing." The voice caused the mouse to jump and she turned to see a much older male mouse standing next to her smoking a pipe. When she noticed him he too sat down beside her and ruffled her head fur. Adrin balefully shook her head and ducked away from his paw frowning at him. If he was going to make her step in there…

She smirked though as he scrunched his head lower at the sound of his wife's voice calling out to them, "Adrin! Didn't I tell you to get in here? Honey, could you also help me? I need you to move this cabinet in here." Adrin silently laughed as her father gave her a stern look and motioned for her to keep quiet.

Her father, Abram Gair, was a brown harvest mouse recently returned from their crop of wheat. He was a few inches short of the average height, but his shoulders were big and his arms were toned with hard muscles from working. And at that moment Adrin's mother poked her head out the window they were currently hiding under. Her mother, Marianna was also a white mouse with equally sleek fur and she surveyed the yard primly with her lips pursed as she tried to find the two culprits ducking out on work.

Adrin stuffed a fist into her mouth and struggled to stifle her mischievous giggles while her father stiffened where he was and dared not to move. How could she not see the pair of them? But her mother didn't since the white mouse pulled her head back inside her house with an exasperated sigh. "Where _are_ those two?"

Father and daughter silently congratulated each other on managing to keep out of Marinna's view then both started sneaking their way to the other side of the house to slip off down the path, which ran in front of the cottage. Soon they were out of sight from the windows and they both erupted into laughter. Clutching her sides Adrin grinned up at her father, "Thanks for not making me go work for mama, papa. I didn't want to dust."

Abram patted her head fondly, "Well, it was either give us both up or get away and I'd prefer not to work either." Adrin broke out into more peals of laughter, clutching her ribs. Her father only grinned sheepishly at the notion of his rather childish behavior.

The laughter was cut short, though, when Adrin's brother, Lee, came barreling down the lane with a look of fright on his face. Abram turned to his son and reached out for his paw after he'd tripped over his footpaws. As he pulled him up he inquired "What's wrong, son?"

Gasping for breath, the younger mouse told him, "Father, I was just playing by the fields when I saw these creatures coming up the road. They were vermin and led by some other creature I don't know. I didn't like the look of them at all, either, so I ran back here to warn you—they're coming this way!"

Abram nodded; grasping his son's paw and then bodily hauled Adrin off the ground he began running back to their own home, the imminent thought they'd be put to work flung from their minds in the possible urgency of the situation. Vermin were not to be taken lightly.

Marianna ran out to meet them ready to give them a piece of her mind until she saw the look on her husband's face. She softened slightly and asked, "What's wrong now?"

"Lee saw vermin coming this way. Come on, we must hide. Barricade the doors and windows. I'm not taking any chances with such a group," Adrin's father said and stepped around his wife to put their children in the house. When Marianna opened her mouth to protest he turned back to glare at her—to emphasize his words and added, "Don't argue with me just go!"

Nodding briskly she took Adrin from her father and carried her in the house. While her son and husband barricaded themselves in their house Marianna went over to a cupboard and cleared the items out of it to put them in a corner of the kitchen. Then she bent down to stick Adrin in there.

The last thing the fearful mousemaid saw was her mother's ashen, frightened face staring at her with mustered courage and then heard her mother's last words, "Whatever happens stay here until your father and I _come_ to get you. Do not come out if you hear our voices calling you." Adrin nodded then was plunged into darkness as her mother closed the cupboard.

For a long time Adrin sat there, only daring to breathe as the cupboard grew hotter and hotter from the overuse of the air inside, but she hardly dared to open the door a crack to get more air. Then the sounds started. She heard a violent pounding on the door then the horrid sound of wood splintering as the door groaned beneath the onslaught. Abram yelped in terror and anger then she heard another soft pounding—though she did not know it, her father had applied his strength to the door's resistance.

It didn't stand. With a sharp crack the wood broke and the door shrieked as the splinter worked its way across and up the door under the constantly applied pressure. Abram cried out in pain as he stepped back and the door broke without his weight to keep it in place.

The skirmish for her family's lives was quick. Adrin's father, Abram, took several arrows in the chest after the door burst ending his life fairly quickly and sealing the fates of his wife and son. Lee was the next to be removed of his life. The young mouse had turned to run when a creature leapt through the open doorway and plunged his sword into his back. Her brother screamed his death song, the sound reverberating through Adrin's head. She would never forget the horrible sound that would reside in her dreams for the rest of her own days.

Adrin's mother was last to die and she shrieked shrilly until it was abruptly cut off from a quick slash to her throat. Marianna was dead before her body came to rest on the ground. For a moment there was a chilling silence, and then the young mousemaid could hear the creatures which attacked her family roaming around her house, breaking all manner of objects as they searched the house.

Her blood froze in her veins as she heard them enter the kitchen where she was hidden, violently slamming cupboard doors as they searched for sustenance. She listened to their progress intently as they opened cabinets, one after another, coming closer and closer to her own.

The mousemaid's mouth opened in horror and she instinctively scrambled to get away from the horrible leering face of a weasel, which poked into her cupboard. His eyes lit up and then laughed as Adrin struggled to get away into the other side of the cabinet, though she knew the door would still open over there. She had to get away from that killer face!

"Well, well, well, wot do we 'ave 'ere. Looks like a prime mouselet to me. 'ey boss! Come 'ave a look at this," The weasel exclaimed as he reached in to grab her. Adrin hissed and lashed out with her claws to leave three, long, red marks on his paw. He jumped back with a curse and growled deep in his throat.

Adrin almost cheered in triumph when the other cupboard door open and the next think she knew she was being dangled by her tail in front of a creature that looked like an overgrown rat! It was a muskrat, which towered over all his comrades and he grinned nastily, showing his sharp teeth to the mousemaid.

"Well, looks like that family had one more to it as well. We should make sure that she gets to her family. After all, families are supposed to stick together. The muskrat's weasel underling looked up from the pain in his paw to begin sniggering and nodded his head.

"Aye, chief. Families should allays stick tergether. So lets stick 'er with me knife then they'll live 'appily. 'appily in thur Dark Forest. Hahaharr," The weasel replied to the muskrats comments, slowly unsheathing a knife holstered at his belt. Adrin's black eyes widened and her mouth opened to release ear-splitting shrieks and began fighting the muskrat and weasel. Her wild flailing saved her as the muskrat suddenly dropped her and she scrambled out of his reach to hide.

"Ouch! Why that little wench! I'll kill her yet," The muskrat snarled and pulled his sword loose—the sword which had knifed Lee in the back. A tight-lipped female stoat came to Adrin's rescue as she walked into the room, slightly ashen and stood in the doorway. "Chief, that wildcat will be here soon. We need to move now."

The muskrat growled in frustration as he swept his head around to search for the mousemaid. He finally shook his head and shouted aloft, "Move out! Grab what you can and bail! The wildcat's coming!"

From her hiding spot Adrin could hear the panicked scramble to grab items out of her house as the brigands vacated with alarming speed. In just a few seconds the house was utterly silent, only the wind blowing a loose shudder against the house. Adrin cautiously skirted the cabinet she had taken refuge behind and peered around at her surroundings.

What had once been a beautiful, immaculate home was now a dump. Several walls had been torn wide open, revealing glimpses of other rooms and furniture everywhere was overturned, broken, or crooked. The cabinets in the kitchen had been gutted, their contents spilled across the tile floor. All this Adrin saw and trembled over. Then she stumbled over to the cupboard she'd been hiding and climbed into it, shutting the door behind to sob for her family.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After discovering the untimely and violent demise of her family Adrin could only sit in the cupboard her mother had pushed her in only hours before and wept. She sobbed uncontrollably for an unknown amount of time and ended up slipping into the welcome darkness of sleep while the sun was still up. The light shone through the jagged edges of the broken windows onto the wooden floor—but the light eventually faded into the darkness of night.

It was during the middle of the night that Adrin was jolted from her sleep by the creaking pawsteps of some creature roaming through the remains of her house. She tensed visibly and slowly opened the door to peer into the black of the night. The mouse couldn't see anything! Her body trembled as she looked around, but no light reached into the depths of the house to help her night vision—she was completely blind!

Swallowing in fear as softly as she could she began creeping out of the cupboard in hopes that she might be able to make a bolt for the forest. Adrin glanced around to get her bearings in the house then began making her way across the floor. It was thanks to her tiny stature and otherwise light body that would've contributed to an easy escape—her light weight kept the floorboards from screaming her presence—if she hadn't stuck her paw into the metal pot that had been thrown to the floor and tripped over into other metal items. The musical racket it made nearly stopped her heart from the freezing fear. _'I'm dead, I'm dead! I'll see you soon, mama,' _the mouse thought cynically to herself, assuming her end was near.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A strong baritone voice said before the creature reached down to pick the mouse up by the scruff of her neck. Adrin froze stiff when she felt the creature's grip on her fur. She'd never been picked up in this way before and the strange sensation only proved to heighten her fear. The mouse was turned around to face the stranger and began squirming and squealing shrilly upon seeing it. It was a wildcat!

The female wildcat bared her teeth and flattened her ears against her head as the mouse shrieked her desperation. It was then that Adrin thought her own death was at hand, but the wildcat merely shouted, "Stop that! I'm not going to hurt you! Stop!"

When Adrin's screaming did not cease the wildcat took her second paw and placed it firmly over the mouth, silencing it with plenty of force that would also keep the mousemaid from digging her incisors into the paw. The cat immediately relaxed once the noise stopped and she said, "There. Now I promise I won't hurt you, so don't run away."

The wildcat slowly removed her paw from the mouth only to find the young mouse panting rapidly in fear; her throat was too locked to utter any other sound. The wildcat examined the mouse with her luminous green eyes carefully appearing as though she were trying to figure out who Adrin was by physical identity alone. After a time the cat, just as she promised, put the mouse down on the floor and stepped several feet back from her.

For a second Adrin stood there shaking then she teetered dangerously on her paws before falling over sideways and curling up into a ball. She was _still _convinced the wildcat meant to hurt her. With her back to the cat she could only distinguish what it was doing by her movements on the floor and when she heard it coming toward her after rummaging around her house and her pants became desperate and terrified gasps. Adrin was surprised when the cat draped a heavy blanket over her, wrapped her up in a ball, and took her in her arms.

"It's alright, little one. I presume this is your family, hmm? I'm surprised those sorry excuses for soldiers didn't kill you. Must've given them a piece of your mind, I'm sure. I'm Baresck and I'm currently hunting to kill that band that murdered your family," Baresck said as she rocked Adrin in her arms, trying to comfort her.

Adrin heard these words and was immediately soothed by them. Justice would be handed out. But….Why was _this_ cat chasing them? Working to unlock her throat Adrin managed to stammer, "W-why are y-_you_ hunting them?"

The green eyes turned down to her in contemplation before she said, "They took my family from me, too. I have vowed vengeance for them, though, and I will not rest until that rat and his crew is wiped from the memories of good creatures."

Adrin relaxed in the cats arms and buried her head into the soft interiors of the blanket. She rolled one shy eye up at the cat before saying, "I-I'm Adrin."

"Well, Adrin," the cat began, "I suggest you get some more sleep. Direct me to your room—I'm sure a familiar place will be easier to sleep in than a cupboard." So the little mouse motioned directions to your room and sighed when she walked into the familiar space. She was surprised to see that it was mostly intact considering the torn and ruined state of the rest of the house.

Baresck gently set her down on her bed then said, "Sleep well, little one. If you need _any_thing just call. I'll come to you." Adrin nodded to show she understood then turned over and closed her eyes.

Almost immediately her exhausted mind was assaulted by nightmares of the event. She imagined her family's death in a dozen horrible ways. Her mind seemed to refuse to wake up for her sake, though. Not until she'd seen the entire dream and the leering, ugly face of the Muskrat laughing.

Adrin woke sitting up and screamed long and loud before she collapsed back on her bed and pulled her blanket over her head, shaking. The sound of soft pads from cat's paws hitting the wooden floor came closer until the warrior came in with an alarmed expression. Baresck slowly crossed the room and sat down on the bed doing her best to keep from disturbing Adrin. She knew the mouse would only cringe from something she had taught was always evil.

The old wildcat whispered in a soft voice, "Adrin?" She paused for an answer then whispered again, "Adrin, it's alright, dear. That Muskrat will _never_ hurt you again. I'll make sure of it."

Baresck continued soothing Adrin's mentality to gain her trust until the white mouse finally poked her head out from under the blankets staring fearfully around her and at the cat. The sun was up in its full glory shining brilliantly and brightly into the room and so the wildcat was illuminated completely and Adrin gasped when she saw her face.

It was surprisingly more pointed than wildcats faces usually are and a long scar decorated it on the left side, going from her ear to her cheek. The features gave Adrin a fierce impression and her green eyes radiated confidence and fearlessness, but there was a feeling about Baresck that was warm. This cat would _never_ hurt her. Adrin realized this and relaxed substantially, even offering a small smile.

"I'm okay now. And a little hungry. What's for eating?" Adrin asked enthusiastically, but a shadow of her nightmares was in her eyes though she tried to paste it over. It wasn't going to be the end of them.

Baresck gave her a half-smile, "Well, there really isn't much left in the house, but I foraged outside in the garden and forest. I've got some steamed vegetables for you and a few wild berries and strawberries, but not much else."

"M'kay," Adrin said with a yawn then hopped off the bed and walked with Baresck to the vittles lying out on the table. The mousemaid was surprised at how much cleaner the place looked since she'd gone to sleep the other night. Everything was picked up and any whole object—such as the table—was set right side up.

Adrin glanced up at the cat with wide eyes and asked, "Where's my family? They're gone!"

"I…I have already buried them, Adrin. You can go and see them after lunch, though," The wildcat replied gently before she settled down at the table and began silently picking and eating her own vegetables. Her brilliant green eyes were glazed over in thought as she ate mechanically.

The mousemaid sensed it wasn't best to press the issue and settled down in her own chair eating as silently as as Baresck though she stared at the floor forlornly. Just looking at the room wrenched her heart because her heart told her that her family should be running around and living. But her mind told her they were indeed dead. She was alone.

She sniffed once and then found her eyes were blurred with tears as she thought of her murdered family. They should be alive! As much as she tried to suppress it her heart cried out to be released of its pain and she soon found herself curled up in a ball weeping into her knees.

When Baresck came over to comfort her she didn't hesitate and wept freely with the strong arms of the cat embracing her. When she had finally cried enough to use her voice she asked looked up at Baresck to find her blurry face staring at her. Adrin wiped the tears away more forcefully and sniffled once more before asking, "What will happen to me now? Will you take care of me?"

Baresck shifted on her paws slightly as she watched Adrin before shaking her head ever so slightly, "No… I cannot take a babe on a hunt for killers. I don't want you basing your life on that. No, I'm taking you to Redwall. You'll be happy there. I've heard great things about it."

"Redwall?" Adrin started and blinked questioningly, "I've heard of it, but never been there. What's it like?"

Once again the cat seemed to have become uncomfortable by the question, but answered it anyway, "I do not know. They don't typically take kindly to my species. And it's no wonder why considering the violent history there. Poor peaceful creatures."

"Violet history?" The white mouse asked, but Baresck only shook her head.

"You'll learn about it while you're there, I'm sure," She said with a half smile then set her down. "Now, do you want to see your family or just get going? I don't mind what you do."

For a moment the mouse had forgotten all about her plight, but her inquisitive and eager expression immediately darkened with sadness. She took Baresck's paw and said, "I wanna go see my family, Barsk."

Baresck then guided her to the back door of her old home—she studied the walls around her longingly—and into the garden where her mother had planted vegetables, fruits, and flowers in neat rows. Their beauty and variety of colors always stunned Adrin and it was no different this time. She smiled at the flowers and roses seeming to smile back and felt herself guided through them into the middle of the garden where she found three separate mounds of dirt; the resting place of her family.

Suddenly she was at a loss of words as she stared down at their graves. Adrin had never seen a grave before and moved her mouth to form words, but found it choked by sobs. She gulped loudly and tried to keep dry of tears long enough to say her piece.

"Mommy… Daddy… Lee…? I—hope you can hear me," She paused to take a few deep breathes and gulp again to keep the tears down. "I…just want you to know that I love you all very much! I love you! I will be with you some day. I will," Adrin stated matter-of-factly and blinked once to let tears cut lines down her face. "I promise I won't do anything bad as you would've wanted me to. I'll…Never stop thinking about you! Good bye!"

The mousemaid had practically been shouting out her words to the world as though she believed the wind could carry them to her love ones, but it was her fight to keep her tears down. Adrin finally tore her eyes and they stopped to gaze at a single white rose. Her mother had loved those roses and said that she, her daughter, would always be like one of them. Subconsciously she motioned her paw to pick a particularly big and bright one in full bloom and placed it on the middle grave. Then Adrin picked one and for a moment seemed to ponder which grave to place it on...But then she stalked out of the garden still clutching the rose and took deep breaths away from their graves to regain her composure.

Baresck watched this display silently and respectfully waiting only a few feet from the grave then followed the mousemaid as she ran out of the garden. And she found the mousemaid fighting the need to purge herself of more tears. Her anguish seemed unbearable to the wildcat and the older one wished she would cry, but the young mouse soon turned to the wildcat and nodded. "I'm ready to leave," she said in a hoarse whisper, but her eyes were devoid of tears.

The wildcat studied her for a moment and then nodded her assent and said, "Alright, let's get you to your new home. And I am eager to get back on the track of those rogues."

Redwall was at least a two days walk from where the two companions were and—while Adrin was very young—she put up with the long hike without complaint. She mostly dwelled on her family during the trip and her mind was usually back at the home she had left behind, lingering as though it refused to give up the fact she could no longer live there.

Baresck did not seem to mind this and took up a job as a guard, always moving her head left and right alertly to find any signs of danger. They met none in their travels. One thing did change, though—the farther they got away from her home the more open Adrin became with the cat. She started asking questions about the world and about the vermin that had killed her home.

She even asked the question of why cats such as Baresck were still treated as vermin though she was good. This was one of the few questions Baresck had trouble answering, "Well, I'm not entirely sure. But I know that in the past Redwallers have accepted vermin into their homes only to have them commit terrible crimes against them a few days later. I wouldn't be surprised if it's made them cynical."

"What does 'cynical' mean?" The mousemaid asked immediately after she got the response, but Baresck only smiled and shook her head.

Finally, on the evening of the second day when the sun was sending bloodshot rays across the clouds scudding through the sky Adrin and Baresck came upon Redwall. They had seen it further down the road and the wildcat insisted that they make their way to it through the forest from then on. Again, Adrin questioned on this, but the wildcat didn't answer and just pushed her way through the thick foliage surrounding them.

They eventually found themselves crouching across the path from the titanic red stone building where Adrin found herself gazing up in awe at it. Baresck also couldn't seem to restrain herself from staring overly much and she didn't say anything for a moment. After their last quiet moment together the brown and black streaked cat turned to her and said, "Adrin, now you must go and ask them to become apart of that Abbey."

"Whoa, wait! What about you?" Adrin asked desperately. She didn't want to be alone again. Though they'd been together for such a short time she'd already taken Baresck on as a surrogate mother and had turned to her without hesitation.

The sadness at leaving Adrin was evident in the cat's eyes as she shook her head firmly, but there was still a glint of vengeance and hate directed toward the Muskrat's crew hidden within them. "No, I can't," she said, "I have to follow those murderers. But never forget me, Adrin, and remember: Not all vermin are bad."

With that she suddenly reached into her sack and pulled out a beaded neckless with a bright blue rock shaped into a dolphin dangling at the end of it and placed it over the mouse's head. Adrin looked down at the figure, aghast at the beauty of the gift, then looked back at the wildcat with a question on her lips.

Baresck answered it before she could ask, "That necklace used to belong to my daughter, but I think you'll find more happiness in it than I will. And I hope you'll remember me every time you wear it."

Adrin gulped once more and said, "T-thank you! It is pretty!"

The wildcat smiled and then gently prodded Adrin toward the gate. "Alright, you should go before darkness falls. Good bye, Adrin." The mousemaid turned to go then hesitated and suddenly launched herself at the cat to hug her fiercely.

"Good bye, Barsk," Mispronouncing the name with her infantile speech as she talked, "And I'll never forget you." After Baresck hugged her back Adrin broke her grip and with one last wistful glance she trudged across the path and hailed the gatekeeper.

"Hello! Is anybeast up there?" She hollered with her paws cupped around her mouth to carry her tiny voice. It didn't take long for a squirrel to peer over the ramparts at her.

"Hello," The squirrel said back to her and then looked around in both directions before asking, "Are you alone, little one?"

Adrin hesitated at saying this, but eventually nodded. She knew she couldn't say Baresck was right behind her. The squirrel didn't seem to notice the hesitation, but rather began opening the gates. When they were wide enough he slipped through them to study the young mouse and looked around once more as though expecting a surprise. Maybe an ambush. It never came and he picked her up in his strong arms.

"Hello. I'm Cambin the Gatekeeper. Who might you be?" His voice was strong and warm and soft. It reminded her much of Baresck, but she was still shy and tried to hide her face in his tunic, but answered his question.

"I'm Adrin."

"Well, Adrin, since you seemed to be alone I can assure you that you'll find a home and friends here in Redwall. Let me take you to the Badger Mother and the Abbot. They will want to meet you."

He turned to walk into the Abbey and Adrin used the opportunity to glance into the woods where she barely caught a glimpse of Baresck's green eyes watching her. The wildcat nodded once, blinked, and then vanished; they would never meet again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sixteen years had passed since the fateful day the Muskrat had stepped into Adrin's home and slaughtered her family, and now the pure white mousemaid was an adult humming gaily as she carefully made a flower chain consisting of sunflowers. Her blue eyes shined brightly with happiness as she carefully tied the flowers together neatly and with the deftness of one used to dealing with difficult thread.

And dangling just outside the neck of her Novice Green robe was the blue stone dolphin Baresck had given her just before Adrin had run to the gates of the Abbey. As the old wildcat would've liked Adrin _had_ never forgotten and her thoughts occasionally wandered back to their first meeting. As Adrin did that nowadays she had thought it quite a coincidence as to how their meeting had made her the mousemaid she was today.

It hadn't taken Adrin long to see what Baresck had meant when she said the Redwallers did not care for vermin-ish types. Right from her first lesson, history, she had learned that a wildcat had oppressed the inhabitants of Mossflower before Redwall was even built. And then there had been the war that had followed for the inhabitants' freedom, finally ending with Martin taking up his sword to do battle with the cat.

From that day forward Adrin decided to keep her mouth shut concerning Baresck and merely contented herself with nodding her head when somebeast said all vermin were hated. Though the nightmares had persisted well into her sixth year of life, the bright hope Baresck had provided, the fact that Adrin was still alive to live her sixth year, said that not all vermin were bad. Upon coming to that conclusion the mouse had grabbed onto it and refused to let it go.

As she trudged through her teenage years she had started to become a little more vocal, but merely hinted at what exactly she had in mind, mostly just listening to those around her. When she was fifteen she had finally, quietly, spoken up. Cambin, the old squirrel who had rescued her to begin with was going over Cluny the Scourge. It was a story known by heart to the young inhabitants and each time the name was mentioned they shuddered in revulsion and hate.

Adrin was sure that this Cluny rat had never felt any spark of love in his life, however, she voiced her doubts about the morals of his horde and followers. Raising her paw, she waited for the squirrel to call on her. Cambin had glanced away from the chalkboard to see her and, pushing his pince-nez glasses up his nose pointed to her in the back and said, "Yes, Adrin, you had a question."

"Not really a question, sir," the mousemaid began respectfully, and continued, "it's more of a speculation. I don't doubt that Cluny the Scourge was evil. The deeds he did against Redwall are unequivocal, but are you speaking for his horde when you voice your hate toward him?"

Cambin nodded strongly, "As a matter of fact I am. If anyone in his horde were anything, but cowards, they would've spoken out against their leader, or refused to participate. No, they did not."

"But, sir, not everyone was meant to be a warrior," Adrin countered. "They would be killed for any thoughts of mutiny towards what their leader says. Cluny is obviously not a fair leader like our Abbot, so what makes you think the rat would actually take into consideration what a thoughtful soldier might say? He wouldn't. He'd kill him straight off. Speaking against their leader was a sure death sentence, but there was always the possibility Cluny might take Redwall and they could live more happily than they were. Isn't it possible that some of them might have been good?"

The squirrel stared at her with his mouth slightly ajar as he mulled over the argument she had presented, remarkably, in favor of the vermin's spirits. Classmates stirred fitfully and whispered quietly amongst themselves, astonished that a mousemaid might actually think this way. They had all been born in Redwall Abbey, unlike Adrin, who'd had the fortune to stumble across a good wildcat like Baresck.

After a few minutes thinking Cambin slowly nodded and said, "Yes, I suppose there could've been. I doubt it, but then… Where'd you get this speculation?"

Here Adrin shifted as she was put to the spot with that question. She didn't want anyone to judge her because of her having been with a wildcat for a few days and merely said, "It just came to me a few days ago, and I was wondering about it. Another point I'm trying to make, Brother Cambin, is that we don't know enough about the society 'vermin' live in because we haven't bothered to find out. We are only thinking in stereotype."

Cambin had dismissed the class after that observation, and locked himself in his study pondering it, not even coming down to dinner.

It was after that one of her peers and acquaintance, though she knew little about him, came to her at the edge of the Abbey pond and asked, "May I sit with you?"

She consented with a smile and a nod before turning back to watch the peaceful, shimmering surface of the water. The mousemaid had glanced back at him, barely managing to put the name to the face since they'd never talked to each other more than greeting each other. A half-smile touched her lips as she recalled what a rogue he'd been when they were much younger, and the difference between their behaviors that had created a rift between any possible friendship.

It had been years since then and he'd grown into a much calmer, though still exuberant young mouse with light brown fur and a charming smile. While she was assistant to the Infirmary Keeper, doing her best to learn the craft, he stayed down on the grounds to train with Skipper and his crew, and learning the art of war with a few other youngsters. Their Abbey Warrior was getting on his age and many speculated that this young mouse was the one whom might replace him.

Having sat in silence enough he finally said, "I wanted to ask you why you had come up with that inference in Brother Cambin's class today. I'm sure he and the entire class know you weren't being entirely truthful when you made your excuse, and I was wondering if you might tell me."

Adrin stiffened slightly from the possible intrusion of this person she hardly knew. She had kept the real excuse to herself for a reason and she turned to him with a slight frown on her white face, asking, "It's McKaid, isn't it?" When he nodded with a smile she went on, "I'm sorry, McKaid, but I'd prefer to keep that information to myself for now. I did not reveal it for a reason."

"Whoa, whoa," McKaid began, holding his paws up in slight defense, "Take it easy. I wasn't meaning to be rude. You don't have to tell me, I was just curious."

"Why?" Adrin's blue eyes were now shadowed in confusion as her gaze, which had rested onto the pond after her little tirade turned back to his.

"Because no one else in the Abbey has thought of that before," he said quietly. "Or if they have they haven't been strong enough to voice it if they were afraid of what the others might think. Your speculation… Got me thinking and as an aspiring warrior for the Abbey I was suddenly wondering about the possibility of a good vermin. Do you _really_ think it's possible?"

With a little less zeal Adrin replied, "Yes, I do."

Since then McKaid had become very interested in her reasoning behind this and it wasn't long before they were very close friends. Adrin also eventually told him about Baresck and what the wildcat had done for her after her family died. His eyes had widened in enlightenment at the time, and he had sat at the pond over training with the other would-be warriors thinking on this. When he'd seen her next he'd grinned irrepressibly and said, "It fits."

As Adrin grew older and practiced her medicines—still not quite the infirmary keeper—she began to stumble on an idea of what she might do to show beasts that not all vermin were coldhearted. She'd presented the idea to McKaid who urged her to pursue it with gusto. Now, at the age of twenty-one, as the mousemaid continued with the sunflower chains, she was still indecisive on whether she should take the opportunity or not.

"There we go," the mousemaid said as she finished off the tie to make a crown of the big, yellow flowers and presented it to a squirrelbabe, who'd been patiently waiting for the Infirmary Aide to finish with it.

"Wow," the squirrelmaid squealed in delight as she touched the sunflowers on top of her head, beaming, "fanks, Ms. Adrin. There bootiful. Can I go show it to my friends?"

"Of course you can," Adrin responded, grinning widely and called out as the squirrel began running out of the Infirmary, "Be sure you don't touch it often or it will come undone."

The squirrel was shouting her assent when there was a sudden grunt of two creatures. Shaking her head slightly to herself Adrin got up from her open book of herbs and started out to the hallway to see if anybeast was injured. "Sorry, Meester Micaide. I didn' mean to run inta you."

"You're fine, little one, just be sure you don't run into any other beast," the familiar voice of McKaid said to her as she dashed off down the hall once more. He was turned away from the door watching her go as Adrin finally reached it. When he turned back he was shaking his head in a mock exasperated manner, "Just you wait, Adrin. She'll be back here in a trice with a skinned knee considering the way she's running around this place."

Nodding to herself Adrin said, "Probably." And then she stepped back into the Infirmary to retreat to her book, yet it was when she noticed he'd followed her inside that she blinked in surprise. "What, may I ask, are you doing in here? Are you hurt?"

"Hmm?" McKaid blinked in surprise at her question, seeming startled then shook his head and said, "No, no, I'm not hurt."

"Then what is it?" Adrin asked gently, knowing he'd eventually get to saying it if she gave him time. The Infirmary Aide would be quizzing her soon on the properties and names of Herbs, which was why she treated him with a clipped manner and still paid him little attention as she returned her eyes to the book. McKaid knew her well enough to know she was very serious about her education.

"Well… I heard something the Abbot was talking about this afternoon and I knew you had to hear it as well. I thought it might… Help you make that decision in whether you should try and spread the idea of vermin not being evil," he finally said with hardly a breath in between his words. He knew this was important and so was trying to present it in the best way he could—and grab her attention.

McKaid got it. Immediately her blue eyes snapped to his and they were wide with curiosity at what he said, "What? What is it you want to tell me?"

Again, McKaid hesitated as he thought about telling her before he finally whispered the words that seemed to echo through the Infirmary, "War."

"Where?" She asked him urgently as her eyes strayed out the window, thinking back on the time Baresck had helped her and planted the notion of peace. Could there be peace throughout the land if she, Adrin, had somehow got all the vermin and woodlanders to accept each other?

"At Salamandastron," he replied. "The Abbot apparently got a letter from the badger lord informing him that an army large enough to invade Mossflower was heading directly toward the mountain. It wasn't asking for soldiers, but the Abbot came down asking if any one of us would possibly want to go and lend aid to the Long Patrol. If this force is as big as the badger lord said—and we both know they won't lie—then they might need our help. D… D-do you think this might be a good opportunity to spread the word?"

"It might," Adrin said breathlessly as her mind suddenly thought on the consequences of going to avert this war might be. It could be a huge success or… Or it would be just as woodlanders had assumed. Vermin were heartless and cruel, and there was no way they'd make peace with woodlanders. And the war would continue.

_No, I must try! I have to try at least, _her blue eyes firmed in resolve and she nodded resolutely at McKaid, "I must go and speak with the Abbot and beg permission to go as a Pacifist. I will try with all my might to stop this war."

The male mouse nodded before he said, "I'm going with you, too. If not to protect you I'll at least be there to see your ideals come to fruition." He smiled confident, but the words of what he did not say hung in the air: _If you _do_ manage to succeed._

They left the Infirmary room together with Adrin striding in front of McKaid with purpose and determination. Any creature they met along the way was greeted with a curt "Hi," and their unspoken question was left unanswered as the bewildered bystander watched Adrin swoop out of the hall and toward the Abbot's private office.

Steeling herself and bringing her head up to show her confidence she turned to her taller companion and said, "Let me do the talking, McKaid."

"No worries there. It's your cause," he responded with a shrug, though she knew better what he was like when he pretended to be offhanded. If the Abbot so much as hinted at her not going the discussion would dissolve into a bitter argument between him and McKaid. It had happened before on other issues with much less important creatures.

Knocking strongly on the door she waited for him to answer. She was almost taken offguard when the door was opened by the older squirrel itself as he blinked slowly at her. When recognition hit him he smiled widely and warmly, "Ah, Adrin, how nice to see you. Come in, come in. And McKaid! What a lovely surprise."

Directing them to two chairs in front of his ordered and clean workspace he creakily made his way to the chair behind it and settled down, peering closely at the pair. Abbot Morton had gained his position when Adrin had been thirteen. Seemingly young then, yet very wise, his appearance finally caught up with his age as he shouldered the duties of Abbot, but it only seemed to enhance his fitness for the job.

Breathing deeply, Adrin looked into Morton's eyes and said, "Father, is it true an invading force is heading toward Salamandastron?"

Abbot Morton seemed slightly surprised then his gaze drifted over to McKaid who sat expressionlessly if a little harshly, as though he dared the Abbot to call on him for telling her that information that was probably meant only for the warriors. He merely seemed to acknowledge that though and nodded, "Yes, yes I did. I don't suppose you and McKaid want to go, do you? Because truly, my dear, it is not a place for a sweet, young, mousemaid like you."

"Oh, but, sir," she began, her eyes still meeting his with unwavering fortitude, "I _do_ want to go."

The old squirrel seemed to be startled by this statement as he sat back silently, only staring at the mousemaid. After careful consideration he finally asked a simple question, "Why?"

"Because, Father, I want to try and prove to other creatures, namely the hares at Salamandastron, that not all vermin are bad. Given the chance they might actually turn over and we could make a truce with them. Sir, it could work! And if it does then we could see peace for ages on end, we just have to swallow our pride and accept the fact that there are good vermin in the world. Father, don't you remember Blaggut, the rat who killed his own captain because he'd ruined the peace at Redwall? He was obviously good. They _are_ out there, Father. I want to see if I can find them."

Abbot Morton nodded, and then turned to McKaid who was eagerly awaiting his decision on whether she could go or not. He finally asked, "And why would you want to go, McKaid? It would be terribly ironic if we had one Novice of Redwall head out to be a mediator and another to fight with the hares."

"Yes, Father, we already discussed that," McKaid said, with only a slight hint of exasperation in his voice. "And we've already discussed the possible failure of this idea; I want to go as a protector of her in case this should happen and possibly to protect her from vermin hands on the way there. They might not be so ready to listen to her if she did not appear as something to respect rather than harass."

Adrin blinked as McKaid cited his own reasons for going and thought perhaps that might not be a bad idea. It would be terrible, though, if McKaid ended up killing something on the way there to protect the person who was willing to risk her death to spread her message. But what would be the point if she never actually made it there? Would the vermin listen? She couldn't tell.

Abbot Morton sat back once again to consider the case these promising creatures presented to him before he finally nodded, though he hesitated in doing so. "Son, daughter, I empower to go and do very much wish for your success. However… It's a very dangerous world out there. Adrin, you need to keep an open mind and do not needlessly put yourself in danger. I know you're smart and will understand what I mean when I say this. Do take the greatest care with your lives, please?"

"Yes, Father," they both replied in unison, slightly bowing their heads before they arose from their chairs to walk out the door. Though Adrin did not doubt the wisdom of her Abbot, she chose not to follow his advice in taking the greatest pains to keep herself alive. How would that impress on the vermin that she cared about them more than she cared about herself? It wouldn't.

_If I have to die to bring peace to Mossflower then I will_, she silently vowed to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Adrin couldn't say why she felt nervous as she rechecked her bag of herbs, her journal, and food and made sure everything was there as it should be for the journey. It would take two weeks of hard walking at least to find her way around the mountains blocking Mossflower from Salamandastron. _Unless I can find a way over them_, she mused as she thought back on Martin's, Gonff's, and Dinny's story of meeting the "flying mice" in the mountains barring them from Salamandastron. Perhaps there _was_ a way over them.

Hoisting her somewhat heavy pack over her shoulders she trooped her way out onto the grounds to wait for McKaid. The sun had yet to rise over the fog laden forest of Mossflower, but she could tell the day was getting lighter and lighter with each moment that passed by. Breathing deeply and trying to calm her nerves she waited impatiently for him in front of the gate where various other Redwallers were. The Abbot had informed every creature in the building of hers and McKaid's decision to go to Salamandastron, but when he spoke of her reasons it was met with an uneasy détente. Most didn't seem to believe her idea would work, but to speak about their presumptions would've been rude and so they remained quiet.

It had caused Adrin to remain silent and lapse into deep brooding as the Redwallers doubted her vision and her. It was something she had not anticipated in any of them, hoping that they might see the merits, or at least display an attitude of "why not?" Most faces seemed to scream "why bother?" though.

Being a very emotional mousemaid had caused a severe lack of restraint on her disapproval of the place, which seemed to not believe in her and her thunderous visage drove her friends away, or caused them to shut their mouths before they spoke and tread into dangerous territory. McKaid, also, seemed to have fixed a disapproving glare on his face all through dinner, though he displayed it with a considerable more amount of control.

"Let them say what they want, Adrin," he'd whispered to her around a mouthful of food as he gazed around at the creatures occasionally glancing at them. "I believe in your vision and you should, too, so don't worry what they think." His words had diminished most of the darkness into a spark of hope, and she now latched onto that.

But because of her lack of command very few Redwallers had actually decided to rise, and see her and McKaid off. As she glanced around at them she noticed, too, that no one had shown up to see the aspiring warrior off, either. Only Abbot Morton and the Gatekeeper Cambin were there in the early hours of morning waiting patiently for McKaid and breathing in the fog.

Aside from the Abbot, Cambin was now the only other person in Redwall Adrin truly had a liking for since so many other creatures seemed to turn their back on her, unbelieving. _I'll show them_, Adrin had thought to herself and then silently sent out a mental message to Baresck, wishing—hoping—it would reach the cat wherever she was, _I'll show that woodlanders should accept vermin. For you, Baresck!_

Just when Adrin seriously began contemplating leaving McKaid to catch up with her later she saw his blurred silhouette appear in the fog until it he was no longer a shadow and his face was brought into sharp relief by the lantern Gatekeeper Cambin held up. "Ah, there you are, my son," Abbot Morton said as he unfolded his arms to clasp the young mouse's hands and smiled genially up at him. "I do hope you both take care of yourselves on your journey, and watch out for each other. May your goals meet success! And if my assumptions are correct then you shouldn't need this; however one cannot be too cautious." And then from behind him Abbot Morton revealed the sheathed sword of Martin the Warrior. As plain as the sheath appeared both McKaid and Adrin merely imagined the magnificent sword being shielded beneath, knowing that in truth it gleamed like a beacon in the night, as new as a blade just forged in the blacksmith's shop.

McKaid was flabbergasted as he slowly took the sword from the Abbot, hefting it to test its weight before meeting the warm eyes of the old squirrel, who smiled back at him. "Why, Father… I-I never would've expected such a prized possession to fall into my paws." Standing up further and clearing his throat he bowed more deeply and dignified saying, "Thank you, Father Abbot. I will wear it with pride."

"And hopefully you won't wield it to spill blood. We've already pointed out the ironies of a warrior with Martin's sword protecting the instigator of this plan," the Abbot said with a wry smile before he'd turned to said instigator. He smiled warmly into her eyes before quietly speaking, "I believe you can accomplish it, my daughter. Good luck."

"Indeed," Cambin gently broke in as he grinned at the pair of them before his eyes locked with Adrin's. "You _must _tell me of your success when you make it back so that I might write it down and log it into our history."

Adrin almost blushed at the certainty in Cambin's response and said, "Thanks for the support, Cambin. I hope it goes as well as you seem to think it will." In honesty she was beginning to truly doubt if this venture was folly or not. It was a dream. Very much a dream, yet, despite her doubt, there was an unyielding flame inside her that said "I will succeed."

She barely had time to ponder it when her head jerked up at the sound of the aging, sturdy gates creaking open through Cambin's use of the crank. Finally open she was just about to step outside the safe walls when a thought recurred to her and she turned to the Gatekeeper, "Brother, do you know of a mountain pass through the mountains that block our way? It would save us a lot of time."

From the expression on the gatekeeper's face that could be discerned with the shadow of lantern light he knew of one. The indecision to tell them, though, stretched in the moments as he remained silent before sighing and saying, "Mind, this piece of information is not confirmed, but I've heard that there's a pass that was carved into the mountain right where the Great Southstream near the southwest of the mountains cuts through. You're going to have to see if it is really there, but that's all I have to offer. Good luck, Adrin and McKaid."

"Good day to you, Brother Cambin," McKaid replied respectfully with a slight bow of his head, and then turned to head out the doors first while Adrin voiced her own goodbyes. Stepping out of the gates was like stepping into a black void. They knew where to go, but the deep fog and lack of light made it difficult to navigate through the trail. They were gone to the eyes of the Abbot and Cambin in no time.

The old squirrel gatekeeper breathed when he lost them to fog and lowered the lantern, turning to the Father Abbot who was somberly watching them go. Cambin finally broke the oppressive silence made even more foreboding with the heavy clouds, "I always expected great things from that mousemaid. I wonder if she really _can_ create a miracle at Salamandastron."

"Only time will tell, Brother," the Abbot whispered back, his voice quivering as he meaninglessly continued to stare down the path the pair had disappeared down.

Cambin turned to give Abbot Morton a suspicious look then said, "I have a feeling you're not telling me everything. Mind if I hear? Or would you rather keep that to yourself?"

Just as Cambin had hesitated to give the mountain pass information to Adrin, the Abbot faltered now and then finally said, "I have a shrewd suspicion we won't be seeing either of those two again. But I can't say if it's because they will fail or succeed. Please don't share that with any other creature."

"Not a soul will hear it from me, Father," Cambin replied in a steady voice, though deep inside his heart went out to the young mouse and mousemaid. The last thing he wished before he turned away to continue his daily routine was that Martin would watch over both the young travelers.

The pair continued walking far into midmorning when they finally decided to sit under a thin rowan tree with its slightly drooping branches wilting in the late spring heat. Munching on the preserved scones the two sat quietly together, looking ahead of themselves into the future and trying to figure out just what obstacles lay before them.

Despite the pleasant chirp of a bird nestled in a tree nearby, Adrin found the silence unnerving and broke it gently, hoping that she wasn't intruding on McKaid's thoughts, "Do you hope we find that mountain trail Brother Cambin was talking about?"

"Yes, I do," he replied, suddenly jerking his head in her direction, no doubt having been deep in thought. He returned the question. "Do you?"

"Well, of course… But—I'm anxious to see what awaits me. Can't say I'm eager or frightened beyond belief to imagine what might be in store for me. My plan… Do you think it's worth it?" She was sure she'd asked him this question at least a dozen times before and he'd always answered the same way.

He surprised her this time. "It's worth a shot, that's for sure," McKaid answered, his voice low as he once again roved his eyes to a different spot so that he would not have to look into hers. "I can't say if it can be accomplished, but I certainly hope it will."

She nodded and stayed silent, letting his words sound in her head before she probed him, "You doubt it will?"

Her male friend turned very slowly to her with such a thoughtful expression on his face Adrin seriously wondered just what he was contemplating. "I don't know. I've been thinking on it and… I just don't know. Something will happen, but I can't tell if it will err on the good side or bad. Either way, I'll be by your side when it does," he said soberly. What he did not voice was that he would be there mostly for her protection over just letting her take the brunt of the shockwave should it be bad.

Further conversation seemed to evaporate as Adrin tried, and failed, to think of a topic. Snapping her mouth shut after half a dozen attempts she merely decided to enjoy her repast. After the break both mice shouldered their packs and began trudging onward, newly refreshed.

Though Adrin was outwardly calm and unruffled, her thoughts and feelings roiled within her. She wasn't sure she had the courage to face two armies, let alone one that wanted to conquer Salamandastron. Both oppositions—from the day they were born—had been taught to hate each other, she was fairly sure of that judging by the attitudes at Redwall. _Is there any way around it?_ She asked herself. But the most she could hope for was listeners or those who'd had a change of view, like she had.

They walked for a good hour or more when McKaid suddenly paused and narrowed his eyes at something in the distance. Adrin, so immersed in her thoughts, barely saw his action and came up abruptly, alarmed at his sudden halt, "What is it, McKaid?" At the same time she scolded herself, _Keep your mind off your mission! You haven't even gotten within sight of Salamandastron and you're already trying to predict the outcome. Don't get too far ahead of yourself!_

"I think I see someone coming," he replied, leaning further forward, opening and narrowing his eyes in turn. Then he smiled and said, "Aye, that's somebeast heading this way!"

Adrin looked also and managed to see a smudge barely standing out against luscious green background of the mountains. But it was there. Grinning to him as well she gestured with a nod to her head, "Come on. Let's go see who it is. Perhaps they'll help us! Or maybe they have news on the situation at Salamandastron."

Picking up their pace the two began with a more determined will since their objective had suddenly switched from a long term, unforeseeable goal to a creature making their way toward him. It wasn't oft a traveler drifted Redwall's way on the road.

It took another's hour walking before they were within hailing distance of each other and McKaid cheerfully hollered to the other creature, waving his paw aloft, "Good afternoon, friend!" Once they had come closer they could discern the physical features of the beast more clearly and were surprised to see a lone otter walking with a nearly identical pack on his shoulders, though appearing more laden.

He waved back, grinning cheerfully, "G'day to yerself!" They finally halted a few paces away from each other to size the other up.

McKaid broke the silence first after a few seconds, "I'm McKaid of Redwall. It's nice to meet you, good sir." He held out a paw, which the otter took with his own calloused ones and shook heartily, as any otter would.

"'Tis a pleasure, mate," the otter replied in a gruff voice. "The name's Sanbar. I don' really come from anywhere anymore. Been gone so long from me friends an' family." As far as otters went, the otter was nothing extraordinary. Though tall—Adrin was sure he was a sea otter—he was strongly built with dark brown fur, and appeared considerably thinner than he rightly should have concerning his size. However, he grinned jovially at them and shook her paw.

She grinned back. "I am Adrin, and I come from Redwall as well. Now, if you don't mind my prodding, sir, but why did you say you don't really have a home?" She asked curiously, her head cocked to the side with interest as he studied his grizzled face.

"Well, when I 'ad reached adulthood in me tribe I took up my backpack and went rovin'. I haven' stopped, either. Sir, marm, you wouldn' believe the world we live in. 'Tis an amazin' place! Now mind tellin' me where yer goin'?"

McKaid spared an uneasy glance at Adrin, but she merely smiled and said, "Not at all, Sanbar. We're heading off to Salamandastron. Do you know of any news from there?"

Here the sea otter's visage darkened and he said, "Aye, an' 'tis a sad situation, miss. That ole' badger lord up there an' his hares are preparin' for the worst 'cause o' that army marchin' from the south. I sure hope you don' go that way to get there 'cause you'll be slain by that lot."

"Well, we never actually intended to go that way. We were wondering if there was a passage through the mountains," Adrin asked without her grin this time. Her face was grave and serious as she gazed up into the otters aquamarine eyes.

He managed a sad smile this time and responded, "Oh aye, that there be. If you wasn' goin' to suggest it then I would've. Follow it along that one stream there that breaks off from the main river. Right next to it on the left side you'll find a windin' staircase. If ya know where 'tis then it's hard ta miss. Now, may I know why yor headin' to that battleground?"

Adrin paused perceptibly; obviously hesitant to divulge her cause for reasons she didn't fully comprehend. Then she nodded, "I'm on a mission to stop this war. I'm hoping to make peace between the two sides." She said, and then added as an afterthought, "Do you think I have a chance?"

"There's always a chance, miss," Sanbar responded with a bright grin this time, his eyes dancing. "In fact, I wish you will win. I wasn' impressed with that badger's high an' mighty attitude. Same with those hares… They all had such a firm belief all vermin were evil. Which 'tis not true."

Adrin's eyes lit up and said next sentence as more of a statement than a question, "You've met some of those vermin."

"Aye, I 'ave an' they're not the cold-blooded killers them hares seem ta think," Sanbar said as he turned his head to gaze over Adrin's shoulder as his eyes peered back into the past. "We 'ad many a good time." He shook his head visibly to shake the reminisce from his mind and said, "Well, g'luck to ye and 'bye."

"Good bye, Sanbar, and thanks for the information," Adrin said, hoisting her pack up onto her shoulders once more and starting to walk forward again; her petite figure spoke of a bounding energy and barely contained patience, though her face sobered once more at the contemplation of the duty on her shoulders, and the resolution.

McKaid was only a beat behind her in responses, "Bye, Sanbar. If you keep going down this road you'll eventually come to Redwall. Big place, you can't miss it. Stop there for a good meal and a soft bed if you are so inclined to take a rest from your wandering." The otter nodded at him once, waved, and continued walking forward. The young mouse watched after him almost wistfully as he went, and then he turned and started off after Adrin. They still had a long walk ahead of them.

It was almost sunset by the time they got to the passage both Sanbar and Cambin had spoken of. Following the stream led them to an obscure path carefully hidden by a bushy weeping willow and several other bushes position close to the river. Using the sword of Martin McKaid carved a better path between the bushes and pushed through until they'd made it through to stand on a tiny, white sand beach reaching up from the rushing water to warm their souls. Despite the dark sides of the cliffs seeming to close in on the path it did not appear forlorn or cold, it was merely functional and emanating the heat of the day.

"We'll start onto the path and then we'll eat and hopefully we'll be able to get a little farther before the sun goes down entirely. I forgot to ask Sanbar how long it would take to get to Salamandastron," Adrin said gloomily as she stared up to the cliff edges.

"Don't worry about that, Adrin. It obviously won't be long if he was going to suggest it to you before you brought it up. Come on, we best get going," McKaid replied after sheathing the sword and started forward as the leader this time. Within a few paces the two mice had set paw on the warm gray stone still emanating heat from the afternoon sun, and soon they were lost to view.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Please don't mind the terrible harespeech and if this chapter has gone down in quality then it might be contributed to the recent cold I've developed.

Chapter 5

They emerged from the mountain pass just as the sun was peaking on the horizon behind them. Red light striated the sky above them with orange and yellow hues intercrossing each other against the flat black background of the night sky. Adrin and McKaid viewed the expanse of scrub and sand that lay between them and the mountain with a grim expression.

Two days walking in the mountain pass had worn their once green robes into fraying cloths. A fine layer of dust disturbed by their paws and blown by the wind had settled on them, making them appear as if they had aged forty seaons. Despite their ragged condition both stared at the mountain with a fierce ambition burning in their eyes. It was the final leg of the journey.

"We best get going, Adrin," McKaid's voice broke into her thoughts as she stared at her objective which lie so close, "if we want to make it there before noontide."

She didn't respond, but showed her acknowledgement by stepping forward and down on the path that now wound like a snake through the jagged rocks of the hillside. McKaid followed, every once in a while glancing up at the dead volcano rearing over them even from this distance. Wreathed in fog in the still heavy night in the west, its ghostly figure and outwardly cold appearance sent a shiver down his spine, and then he tried to push the feeling out of his mind.

At the foot of the mountains on the other side the path had started out with one solid side and a sharp drop-off. Before the sun had gotten too low they'd stopped for fear of slipping over the edge into the rushing water. As they continued, though, the stream rushed under the mountain and the path bent into the other side of mountain so there was no longer a danger of falling.

As safe as the path had become, though, they realized that the stream running along side it was what had kept the path relatively cool and bearable to walk. Now, with two mountains on either side of them the heat had nowhere to go, and was absorbed into the rock, heating it to unbearable temperatures.

Sweating and barely able to breathe, they'd tortured themselves the entire way and finally ended up on the other side. But as the pair looked across the vast scrubland that separated the mountains from Salamandastron, McKaid couldn't see how different it was from the rocks.

Further proof was provided from their shoes as they stepped onto the baking sand; they'd traded their sandals in for thicker slippers, but since they had walked on hard rock for two straight days they had worn the soles almost smooth, and it provided little protection from the bare rock. Namely the heat soaked up through the fabric. Now, both hissed as they placed a paw onto the sand and felt the grains rub up against their calloused paws and burn their skin.

As noontime approached McKaid groaned when he realized he was wrong about reaching the mountain by lunch time. It seemed to not have gotten any closer and though the sun had been down at the time he could tell the light had played tricks on his eyes regardless. They had at least another half a days march ahead of them.

Adrin paid this no heed, though, as she continued marching with her head bent against the wind, which occasionally picked up and stirred sand into dust devils. Closing her eyes she continued onward in a zombie-like state, her feet only instinctively moved as she shuffled around bushes using some innate sense to guide where they went.

Noon came and passed before McKaid finally said, "Adrin? Adrin! We should stop and take a bite before we go any further. You look dead on your feet." The mousemaid made no reply to this and merely let her pack drop to the ground with a _thunk!_ Dropping his backpack also he rummaged for a slightly stale scone and sipped the water still left in his second canteen. They would need to fill up somewhere soon.

Despite his apparent nonchalance McKaid could feel a sense of unease overtake him no matter how much he tried to fight it back. Just looking at her eat mechanically with her eyes glazed over in thought sent a pang of sadness into his stomach, and destroyed his appetite. Adrin nibbled conservatively on her own strawberry scone, seeming not to taste it at all and soon put it back into her pack.

_She doesn't even know the situation and it's already eating her up_, McKaid thought as she got up from the ground, brushing her forever dirty robes and hoisted her pack once more. His dear friend was all ready to get back onto their projected path.

"Wait, Adrin, sit down a little longer and rest," he wisely advised as she glanced down at him with hollowed eyes. He knew she hadn't been sleeping well from the tossing and turning he'd felt next to him at different times of the night with his paw on his sword.

"I'd rather not, McKaid. I want to get to Salamandastron as soon as I can," she replied with a sigh and cast a wistful glance in the direction of the towering shape, which shimmered as though it were just a tasteful illusion.

"No, Adrin, you can't do this to yourself," the aspiring young warrior suddenly said. As a youngster grouping up alongside Adrin, he'd been compared to her as much more outgoing and less sensible, but suddenly it was as if he'd grown into the age he was. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he held his stance against her, "You have to stop thinking about what you're going to do. I _know_ you will do the right thing when you get there. Don't ever doubt that! And though I know it's good to go in with a plan you're overdoing it. Knock it out of your head and get sleep, you can afford an hour's nap with the way we've been pushing ourselves."

Adrin hesitated, her stubborn nature arising as she opened her mouth to argue his statements, but then he reached up, and with strength born of frustration, he pulled her down next to him. It took her a moment to regain her surroundings then she smiled at McKaid. "Thanks," she said, admitting defeat, "Wake me up in about an hour's time then." With that she flopped back into the sand without even removing her sleeping roll and closed her eyes. It took only a few minutes for him to believe she really had dropped into a natural sleep with her breath rising evenly in her chest.

He sighed as he watched her sleep, wishing he could do the same, and instead studied her face. It was thinner from the strong pace they'd set at the beginning and persisted through even as they baked under the sun. Her stubbornness and determination were a few qualities he admired in her that he didn't see in any of the other females at Redwall, or at least not as strongly as he saw in her. He knew that no matter the setbacks or obstacles set before her, Adrin would persist and prevail, as strongly as perhaps Martin the Warrior would've.

_Martin. _ The name sent a shiver differ down his spine as he took the sword off his back and studied the long blade still hidden by its sheath, hiding its deadly beauty. He'd read enough of the old stories and heard enough about them to wonder what the Abbot was referring to when he gave the sword to him. Every single adventure that had happened with one Redwaller carrying the sword had had a fight in it somewhere, and now that Adrin and him had largely been left alone he wondered if somehow there was a showdown still to come.

And McKaid was sure that no matter her weaponless status Adrin would still be inclined to fight. For which side, he wasn't entirely sure as it all depended who was on _her_ side, and they'd yet to find out what the Salamandastron hares and badger lord were thinking.

McKaid suddenly sat bolt upright, staring around in alarm as he levered himself up on his arms. He'd fallen asleep in the middle of his musings and as he looked up at the sun he could tell a good two hours had passed since Adrin had fallen asleep. _Oh no, we should've been back on the road an hour ago,_ the aspiring warrior thought and mentally cursed his inability to stay awake. _What kind of a warrior am I if I can't awake during watch? _

He then reached over next to him to wake Adrin and was surprised to see she'd somehow snuggled up right next to him in his sleep without even knowing. McKaid paused with his paw hovering over her shoulder as he contemplated awaking her once again as she smiled peacefully at him in her sleep. Finally he managed to place the paw on her shoulder and gently shook her, crooning gently, "Wake up, Adrin. We need to be going."

Adrin's eyes snapped open just as quickly as his head, but she got up with considerably more grace, pawing the sleep from her eyes as she too glanced up at the sun. She frowned when she noticed it way past its noon zenith then raised her eyebrows at McKaid as though she waited for an explanation.

McKaid grinned back sheepishly, "I accidentally fell asleep myself."

"Ah, that's alright I guess. I was hoping you didn't just let me sleep because you thought I needed it. Thanks for suggesting it, though, it was refreshing," Adrin said more sweetly than she had been since they met Sanbar and shook her head of the last vestiges of sleep. Then she energetically hopped to her paws and snatched her pack and said, "Well, come on. The day's a-wasting."

Adrin started off before McKaid had even gotten to his footpaws and he ended up staggering after her, struggling to get his pack on, match her fast pace, and suppress the chuckles threatening to erupt from him. "Glad to see you're back to your old self, Adrin," he called after her back as he finally got his backpack onto his shoulders and skipped up to catch her. "I was a little worried before I made you get to sleep."

She turned back to him to smile brightly and said, "Yes, your advice to sleep was good. Ah, I feel great. And what you said about forgetting my objective… That's helped a lot, too. Thanks."

"I'm glad my words could be of some service to you," he replied and shook his head in amazement as she continued to take long sweeping strides. Nothing ever seemed to deter her for long.

As the sun slowly sunk into the western sky McKaid began to grow increasingly edgy and even Adrin glanced nervously up at the sky. It had been completely devoid of anything the entire day, but as they took closer and closer steps toward the mountain and the rising tide seagulls suddenly materialized out of nowhere and began circling the vast reaches above them, cawing loudly. At first they'd been unnoticeable, silent, but then their wide shadows had drifted across Adrin and McKaid's field of vision, startling them to look up and see just a couple of them floating overhead.

Neither of them had ever seen a bird bigger than a sparra and these seagulls seemed nearly four times their size as they flapped their wings occasionally as opposed to the sparrow's constant fluttering. McKaid had been curious at these large birds which could somehow float in the air despite their size, but the feeling was only mild and the birds few.

But now, he raised his head up with a contorted, ugly expression on his face which seemed to be a mixture of disgust and hate. These birds made him uneasy all over and as they continued to get increasingly lower he felt his legs tensing to run. He knew, that after making it more than three quarters of the way to the badger mountain they'd finally get assaulted and not by any vermin hoping to loot their corpses.

It happened. There was hardly a warning as suddenly a bird's shadow seemed to grow alarmingly wide around him and he dived to the side, already rolling to his feet and running. He reached back for Martin's sword and shouted aloud to Adrin, "Run to the mountain, Adrin, run!"

His breath nearly caught in his throat when the horrible screech from the bird sounded frighteningly close next to him after it came up with an empty beak. It glared at him and, instead of taking to the air, it flapped its wings to hop after him. Martin's sword flashed in the dying remnants of the sunlight—having drawn it for the first time he still grasped it surely—and he followed the birds movements, steadily backing up the entire time.

The orange-eyed creature jabbed its beak aggressively at him only to receive the blunt side of the blade smacking its beak with all the strength McKaid had. It cawed horribly and jumped back once more, giving McKaid room to look around. More seagulls were landing as they watched his fight with one of their comrades and he noticed that Adrin was slowly and surely getting caught in a circle herself as she deftly, but vainly dodged the snapping beaks and birds working to fly in her way.

McKaid panting had turned into ragged breaths of rage as he watched his best friend struggle to try and get out of her situation alive. He'd promised he'd be there to protect her and he wasn't! He was caught in another trap! The young mouse's mind suddenly turned to desperate motives as he picked up his speed and began sprinting around the circle trying to break through, swinging his sword at offending birds only to have it clack harmlessly against their beaks.

_No, no, no! I can get out of this. I have Martin's sword and the Abbot wouldn't have entrusted me with it if I wasn't incapable of using it. To your honor, Martin_, McKaid thought disjointedly before he suddenly called aloud into the night, his words causing a few of the birds to take off into the evening sky, "Redwall! Redwall!" The blade fell with deadly purpose on the neck of the first bird that had plunged after him, using the stunning affect his shouts seemed to have to kill it.

The blood pounded and his eyes clouded as he savagely dealt death and hideous injuries to the creatures hoping to get an easy meal off of him and Adrin. With two birds dead to his wrath he turned and sprinted after Adrin, who was doing her best to dodge and swing her pack formidably. "Redwall," McKaid shouted with zeal, swinging the blade to scatter the birds. He nearly stopped when he heard an answering cry.

"Eulalia, eulalia! Blood and vinegar," the battle cries sounded from several different voices and suddenly in his and Adrin's midst were three hares slinging stones and jabbing with their dirks. The remaining seagulls took to the sky without hesitation when they had sighted them, leaving in their wake several bodies of their allies.

Breathing heavily McKaid took a cloth in his pack and wiped the blood from the blade, making it appear as clean and beautiful as ever. When he saw his handkerchief stained the dark red splotches of blood though, he shivered and grew pale, but then he seemed to pull himself together and strung the cloth onto his belt. He didn't feel like putting something that was now bloodied back into his pack where his food was. Trying to keep his mind off the killing he'd just done, he turned his eyes onto the hares and said, "Thank you, friends, for showing up when you did. I don't know if I could've held them off for much longer."

"Blinkin' blighters, wot wot! You did a bally good job out there, chap. I would've expected you could've taken 'em all out without our help. A true warrior, indeed," the leader of the trio began, bowing with a leg. "M'name's Colonel Crenshaw. These two fellows here would be my cadets Marbury and Trenton." McKaid noticed, even in the dying light, that all of them appeared to be the same dirt brown color with a white chest and mouth dressed in sandy tunics that would better camouflage them against the landscape.

"Good day to you, colonel and cadets," Adrin said after having finally found her way to the group since she'd sensibly run past the seagulls once Martin's blade had been flying. "I am Adrin and this is my companion McKaid. We're envoys sent from Redwall."

The hares black eyes widened in surprise when he heard the name and said, "Redwall, wot? I've heard o' the place. 'Sposed to have the best bally food ever; even better than Salamandastron's. But wot are you two doing out here? This isn't exactly a safe place. There're vermin hereabouts. And 'envoys' you say? Not warriors?"

McKaid saw Adrin's spine stiffen at the comment where both could hear a distinctive undertone of disdain. But she appeared no less disturbed by it and smiled warmly, "Yes, sir, I've been sent here on a mission of my own. I would like to speak to the badger lord here if you don't mind. And as quickly as possible."

Colonel Crenshew regarded the mousemaid with an unreadable expression, and merely twitched his nose before he said, "Well, I can't say he'll be able to lend ya much bally time to hear your case. We've practically got a horde crawling up our walls. He can't very well talk and fight now can he, wot wot?"

Adrin gasped in alarm and asked urgently, "Are they here then? Why aren't you there defending them if they are?"

"Well… They aren't here yet, wot," Crenshaw managed to say bobbing up and down as though he were impatient to get back to the mountain, or on his rounds, "But Lord Broadstripe sighted them marching the south coast this morn. I imagine they aren't very bally far away."

"Then lets get back before they cut us off from the mountain," McKaid butted in and started off in the direction of the mountain. He'd always heard that hares were supposed to be outgoing, amazing warriors who seemed laidback about everything, but the manner in which this colonel treated Adrin impatiently told McKaid that he was either stressed, or annoyed at the fact Redwall hadn't sent any backup their way. Whatever it was he was glad he finally directed them toward that notion.

"Right! Attention, cadets! Steady on their, chaps, and march," he began, but he broke into a more of a loping gallop rather than a rigid stride. It was much faster than the pace the pair of mice had set that morning, but both managed to keep up after their adrenaline pumping experience with the seagulls.

As McKaid pumped his legs beneath him and worked to keep up he glanced toward the south of the mountain and felt his breath catch in his throat. He could see the files walking in stiff formation, much as Salamandastron's Long Patrol would do, with their spears pointed upward to the sky. It still had to be a good mile away, but it was growing in their view with every stride.

_I sure hope Adrin knows what she's going to do, _McKaid thought when he turned his eyes to stare at the back of her head. _That isn't a force to be easily reckoned with. _ And he hoped the badger would listen to Adrin's request. He hoped for so much and yet they felt empty.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Lord Trendon Broadstripe was, in McKaid's eyes, a sight to behold. Aside from the customary Mother Badger at Redwall McKaid had never seen another of their kind before and to see a full grown male was to see a barely restrained steer rearing in front of you. Though Lord Broadstripe seemed not on the verge of losing his temper, the mouse was given a sense that he would become a full-fledged killing machine in a trice. Though soft, he was still stern and compared to his huge, war hardened exterior Adrin's ideals of peace among woodlanders and vermin, with herself as the representative, seemed to pale.

No matter, the white furred mouse stood firmly on her ground. And to the relief of her friend, she had no doubts shadowing her face as she had before he lectured her. Despite that he was still feeling humbled, McKaid drew himself up and stood beside her, to provide further support for her cause to stand on.

"Thank you, sir, for sending your patrol up to escort us the rest of the way to Salamandastron. I don't know if we'd been able to fend off the Seagulls ourselves," Adrin replied courteously with a curtsy, though she never averted her eyes.

Lord Broadstripe seemed not to notice her refusal to bow her head in respect, and continued on. "I doubt you could've, too, despite what a fine warrior your companion is. Seagulls always attack in numbers, but their size is usually enough to take down whatever prey they seek. He has an outstanding aptitude," the badger said, and he turned his eyes to meet those of McKaid's.

In all those stories McKaid had sat through that involved the great badger lord or lady of Salamandastron, never had he seen a gaze so completely without emotion. He always recalled some Lords looking on others with a regal, if kind sternness. Or even outright gentleness with no hostility. He saw nothing in Lord Broadstripe's eyes—except perhaps a slight flicker of disgust, as though he was disappointed the Redwallers did not send a more formidable crew in replacement of this hopeful pair. Now, McKaid knew why Colonel Crenshaw had responded so disdainfully to Adrin.

"Thank you, sir, I'm honored you believe so," McKaid replied, bowing at his waist though he, too, would not break off his gaze for a mere moment.

Again, the badger took no heed of these motions, but just sat down at the head of a long dining table in the Great Hall of the mountain. Though McKaid hadn't really been given the time to truly gaze in awe at the structure before him, he knew from a brief glance that it was comparable to Redwall in fortitude and eminence. And foreboding. An air of doom seemed to hang over the mountain like the thick fog he and Adrin had seen just the morning before.

As they came closer to it McKaid felt like he was walking through a graveyard, though the hard rock and sands were completely devoid of bodies or gravestones. Death hung heavy on the air at Salamandastron's feet and, instead of feeling the scalding burning of the sun, McKaid had felt a chill sink into his very bones with every breath he took of that air. Just the thought of breathing in the dead sent his stomach roiling within him.

The knowledge that countless armies had run up against the wall and broken like the tide upon the immovable rocks was reinforced as Adrin, McKaid, and the trio of hares they were with stepped into the halls. The colorless stone all at once seemed to suck up optimism and radiate a furious energy that drove the hares within the great fort. Though the sun was beginning to fall activities were being kicked into high gear from the eminent approach of the horde approaching from the South. Orders were flying, Long Patrollers were patrolling, and a general stern and professional attitude was being carried everywhere. Even to the kitchens.

It struck McKaid that the hares were in a constant battle attitude, only put on reserve when there seemed no more enemies to slay. Despite the furious energy he could feel from the hares going about their duties was an undertone of excitement. They were eager to possibly meet their deaths! Or, more likely, to hand out death to those vermin. This notion of always being prepared for battle made McKaid feel more ill than he was after walking through what felt like a stagnant tomb, despite how open the scrubland was. Glancing at Adrin, he wondered if she had picked up on these feelings on the way to the mountain.

His best friend did not allow any of this onto her face as she alertly watched the badger in front of her. When it spoke, McKaid immediately returned his attention to it. "Colonel Crenshaw tells me you hail from Redwall. We sent an envoy to Redwall in hopes that they might send reinforcements to keep their land free of vermin, though I know they're under no obligation to. However, the Colonel tells me you're here for a different reason other than give aid."

"Indeed I am," Adrin replied neutrally, though she smiled gently, if a little eagerly, for a more positive reaction from the badger. To push a cause such as a truce between hares and vermin, McKaid knew, was an act of gentle prodding over forcefulness. He also knew he wouldn't have been able to pull it off. "And I ensure you that it will be something you might be hesitant to, but I implore you to examine my reasons behind this rather than just turning me away."

Lord Broadstripe peered curiously at her, sniffing as though he could determine her cause through her scent; he said as gently as he could, "If my intuition is correct then I would have to guess this resides heavily on the war I'm about to fight here on my sands. I will try to give this my utmost attention; however, I have a battle to fight, so I will be preoccupied."

"Oh but, sir, you might not have to fight that war if you agree with what I have in mind," Adrin replied calmly. McKaid could hint a slight undertone of forcefulness, and her blue eyes though staring somewhat defiantly, pleaded for him to listen.

"Oh? I hope you aren't suggesting that I abandon my position as Lord of Salamandastron. To abandon Salamandastron is _also_ to abandon my post as Lord of the Long Patrol as well. I could never do that," the badger said, clicking his claws against the cold rock of the table imperiously.

"No, my Lord, but I was hoping you might make a truce with the so called "vermin" outside your mountain right now," Adrin said steadfastly. The shocked gasps from around her and the way the badger stiffened at the statement could not avert her eyes either as she continued to stare politely at him.

The Dining Hall, having been filled with several Long Patrollers trying to concentrate on feasting—but also eavesdropping—fell so silent the clatter of the sparring could be heard. McKaid tensed himself, ready to stand up and give his own supporting speech if necessary, but from the way Adrin shook her head slightly he knew she wanted him to keep quiet. Not only was it her battle, but the usual blunt response McKaid usually retorted with would only have a hostile affect. He was only to step in as a last ditch attempt, or so he had decided.

For several minutes the silence reigned before the badger lord seemed able to collect himself. "That is an…Interesting proposition, Adrin. I gave you my word I would listen to your reasons behind this, so present them," Lord Broadstripe struggled to say amiably, though both Redwallers could tell he was bristling.

Adrin hesitated a moment only to collect herself before saying, "I don't suppose you've heard of the muskrat that roved Mossflower with a band of thieves and murderers, Lord?"

Lord Broadstripe narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her, obviously contemplating where she was going with this point before nodding. "Yes, I remember hearing of a band of rogues led by a huge muskrat some seasons back. He's been dead for years now, though."

Something flashed in Adrin's eyes for an instant, but she dashed that away almost immediately, and said, "That muskrat was the very murderer of my family. I lost a mother, father, and a brother to him and his band. I could hate them to the very core of my being, sir, and I think even you would acknowledge I'd have a good reason to. Which, I admit, I did—for less than a day…"

"It was on the very night that my family had been slain that I met someone whom I did not expect. I had fallen asleep in my hiding place and was awoken to rummaging around in my house. And I found a _wildcat_ in my home. You can imagine that I was all at once terrified and violent toward the creature, hating it as much as I hated the muskrat. Yet, as you can see, I am still alive today and without a scar. Now, why would that be if a wildcat found me?"

The badger remained silent to Adrin's rhetorical question, just as she hoped, and she continued, "It's because that creature showed me as much compassion as any woodlander would have if they'd found me instead. She soothed my fears, respectably buried my family, and shared her food with me as we journeyed to Redwall. It was there she left me in the care of the Redwallers, and set off in pursuit of those bandits who'd also killed her own family. She is also probably the killer of those bandits."

Adrin watched Lord Broadstripe more intently than she probably should've, but McKaid let out a small, slightly relieved sigh at the words the badger uttered. "I had heard that a wildcat had in fact slaughtered the vermin you speak of." The words grated through his teeth as though he were forced to agree with a point he didn't _want_ to agree with. And he didn't, "Despite your reasoning, the logic I see behind your decision, I see it is nothing more than a foolish dream. You, so young and pretty and, yet… So _naïve_ about warfare and what really goes on in the battlefield. Have you ever encountered those types out on the sands right now? They are nothing but heartless murderers."

"Oh, really? And you know this for a fact, sir?" Adrin asked still neutrally. McKaid could tell she was trying to maintain her cool, but she was leaning forward staring intently at the object which stood in the way of attempting her idea.

"I don't have to _know_, I merely have to look out one of these entrances to see hateful, avaricious faces staring at me. They don't want peace, they merely want blood and treasure and land, Adrin of Redwall. Nothing drives them but their own greed," the badger lord intoned with a fiercer undertone than what he originally spoke in.

The mousemaid sighed and, for the first time that night, tore her eyes away from the badger to shake her head sadly. "That's to look at it without emotion. You only see what they want you to see, but won't you even hazard a guess that some, maybe even most, don't want to be fighting this war? You call them cowards because they probably do value their lives more than they do whatever they'll get out of this war; _if _they get anything out of it. Perhaps fear does drive them, but you expect them to die a hero's death every time they hesitate to participate in a battle? Or disagree with their lordship? They should _have_ a choice, but they don't. Not like you give your hares. I have doubts about their leader's morals, but I'd have to say they're more likely to be 'vermin' than the soldiers he governs."

Lord Broadstripe now shook his head back at the mousemaid. The emotionlessness was now replaced by a feverish fire that burned in his eyes and he leaned forward toward the mousemaid, causing her to draw back. McKaid's breath caught in his throat as he saw the real fear, desperation, and…Realization. _No, no, anything's possible! She _can_ make this truce happen,_ McKaid screamed mentally and prepared to insert himself in front of Adrin to face the full brunt of the badger in front of him.

"Listen, young mouse, whether there really are soldiers out there that are exactly as you describe is beside the point. They are at the foot of my mountain ready to bombard us and invade and fill the surrounding land—including Redwall!—with malice and hatred. We must stop them before it goes any further. Long Patrol, continue preparation for the coming confrontation," the badger lord added as an afterthought when he glanced around to see all the hares staring at them with a mixture of shock and grim knowledge.

Adrin couldn't contain herself any longer. "That malice and hatred has already spread to you! Listen to you speak! Do you not feel that there might be at least one good creature in the entire horde who might agree with my views? Maybe they see it the same way you do! You are the enemy, and they have to prevent you from stealing all the land around, the good land! Perhaps they are fighting for families as much as you are fighting for your own families. Can that not be true?" She asked aloud to the surrounding hares, who watched the debate with new enlightenment or reserved cynicism.

"Colonel Crenshaw, please escort Adrin and McKaid of Redwall to rooms far enough away from the battle that will ensue," he said then turned away and refused to exchange anymore words with the idealistic mousemaid.

The fiery warrior finally stood and defended her, just as he promised he would. Trying to filter out any irritation at the badger, he still managed conviction and said, "My Lord, aren't you going to even _try_ a truce! What is the point of just walking away? Are you just going to continue with this cycle? The cycle of war and peace. You just want that to continue when you could grow old and die of natural causes rather than being skewered out on the battlefield. That's what you're sending your hares out for, and there _will_ be deaths. Don't you want to save them from that?" McKaid shuddered as he glanced around ashen at the hares. He knew that this time tomorrow he would not be seeing as many of the hares as there were now, instead he'd be looking at their stiff, lifeless bodies thinking of how their deaths could be prevented.

Lord Broadstripe looked at McKaid long and hard with calculating eyes as though he were sizing up the threat the young mouse presented same as he would size up the warlord just outside. McKaid glowered back at him with his mouth set in a firm line, and waited for the answer. The great badger glanced around at the hares still mingling in the dining hall before asking a question spoken so softly that all nearly had to lean forward to hear, "All who are willing to lay their lives on the line for this battle tomorrow, say "eulalia."

"Eulalia! Eulalia," the shout began as a low rumble, issued only by those present, but when other hares from the outer halls picked up the word, they screamed the battle cry even louder. The chant continued running through the halls and out the window, enlivening the spirits around them and whipping the hares into a frenzy, lusting for battle.

McKaid paled and gazed desperately around him before his eyes turned to Adrin. She had gazed around with a strange, desperate determination and pleading. Yet as the shout continued with more potency each time it rang, it seemed to loosen the very rocks her ideal had been founded on. As it continued, those rocks crumbled until she was slumped over the table, mourning her ideal. Mourning for the creatures that were to die the next day.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

McKaid lay staring up at the ceiling with mounting despair in the bed that had been given to him. As soft and plush as it felt beneath his back—especially after the hard rock he'd been sleeping on for the last four nights—he found himself wide awake with his mind buzzing on the consequences of what had ensued that night.

The chant had continued even after they'd left the hall, and could still hear it a floor above the dining hall as they were led down the same, grim hallways. Each creature ignored the other on the way to their rooms, with only Colonel Crenshaw muttering darkly under his breath. McKaid was constantly looking around himself, often glancing at Adrin only to see her staring hollow-eyed in front of her face.

He tried to open his mouth and tell Adrin something—anything!—but then he would glare at the back of the colonel's head for their lack of privacy, knowing the hare would probably overhear and refute anything McKaid said. He counseled her, though, by reaching and grasping for her paw, and looked to her for a response. The mouse grimaced when Adrin only gave him a cursory glance, but he squeezed her paw in reassurance.

There wasn't any time for even a small chat as the colonel was in too much of a hurry to wait for them and merely said, "Here are your rooms. Now, if you'll excuse me I've got a battle to fight." Despite his rush he waited until both were in their rooms and the doors were shut before scuffling off down the corridor.

Once inside McKaid was loath to go back out and head next door. When Adrin had locked eyes with him briefly she hadn't looked in the mood or position to want encouraging words, but merely kept her head down. And now as he lingered at his door to the hall he couldn't conjure any supportive words to give her that might not prove false. So, he finally resigned himself to bed and flopped on it with his head turned toward the window, begging silently for sleep to come.

Time crept by, though, and he still seemed no closer to sleep than he had been before the conversation with the badger lord. Total, unnerving silence reigned around him—not even the hares from the hall could be heard!—and he wondered if this was the calm before the storm. _Where is the other army?_ He wondered then and finally decided to satiate his curiosity.

Throwing his cover back and caution to the winds he walked over to the window without any stealth, but when he got there his sense of self-preservation swept back. _It'd be incredibly stupid if you just stuck your head out like a cuckoo bird to either get it shot off, or make it known you're in the mountain,_ McKaid thought bitterly to himself before he carefully stuck his head out to the window, staying close to the ledge.

He was surprised to find the ground was fairly close to where his window was perched, and wondered for a moment if this was Colonel Crenshaw's way of showing his disdain for them. Bringing his eyes from the ground he peered out across the invisible sand below and, without a trouble, spotted the hundreds—even thousands!—of bundles of light, which danced on the dark sand. Fires. The army was vast and McKaid shuddered to think Salamandastron's possibilities of withstanding this attack.

_We might not even get out of here alive,_ he thought miserably to himself, and chanced a glance at Adrin's vacant window before pulling his head back in and making his way toward the bed. A sigh emanated from him as he stared up at the vacant ceiling, a million thoughts reeling through his head. Closing his eyes, he bided for his time to sleep. The elusive creature came back to him quickly, though, and soon he was oblivious to all around him; he even didn't hear the march of the armies preparing to meet each other.

It was only a few minutes after that started his eyes opened alertly and he sat up in his bed wildly looking around himself. Trying to find an escape! _Is it true? _He mused as he threw on his clothes and darted out the door, glancing left and right only briefly before sprinting the short distance between his room and Adrin's. He slid to a stop and wildly pounded on the solid frame.

"Adrin? Adrin, are you in there? Answer me please," he screamed, not caring whether his shouts carried down from the mountain to the battlefield. Taking a chance, he grasped the door handle and flung it open looking around. No Adrin. "No…" He managed to say when he saw what he had feared; her sheets had been tied together and in knots then flung out the window.

He rushed to it and without preemption practically threw his head out the window, searching the land wildly below for her. His heart nearly stopped in his chest when he spotted her petite, white figure darting forward toward the armies beginning to rally themselves for the battle of the mountain. The opposing force stomped the ground in time and beat their spears together, creating a low rumbling effect that might have been created to intimidate the world renowned Long Patrol. McKaid couldn't see what the hares might be doing.

And he didn't wait to see what they might do. Nearly crawling headfirst out the window he barely managed to keep from toppling onto his head, but still hurriedly slid down the makeshift rope and called her name, not bothering to temper his voice, "Adrin! No, Adrin, come back! Please, come back!" Yelling loud enough for the heavens to hear he sprinted full tilt after her, with his paw already on his sword ready to bring it forth; the armies appeared not to heed any words he shouted, or the approaching figure dressed in her torn and frayed habit.

Adrin ignored the pain in her footpaws as the pain shot in spasms up her legs, protesting loudly to the sharp rocks she stepped over trying to make her way to the impending melee. _I've got to stop this. I must! I can't let them do this,_ she cried silently to herself and increased her speed. Her ears twitched when she heard McKaid call out to her—beg her!—to come back within the safe confines of the mountain, but she dared not turn back. _I'm sorry, McKaid,_ she called back to him, wishing her message could be spoken aloud to him and in person.

Wincing at the pain in her feet from being unable to put on her shoes before the armies had begun marching the mousemaid turned toward the middle of the masses. She'd needed to get out in front of them; she reached the edge of their lines. Several weasels and rats glanced her way curiously as she dove straight into the alley both had created with the halt of their separate forces. The hares, having witnessed the reasons she was there glared at her with mounting irritation, and Lord Broadstripe followed her progress through the rift with narrowed eyes. A weasel warlord in the far back of his horde seemed to share the same feelings toward the mousemaid as he too glared at her with growing frustration.

She ignored them both and stopped only when she felt she was in the middle of their masses, and then held up her arms with her palms facing them in a halting motion. "This has to stop! Please, don't fight! We can come to a truce," she screamed to the creatures around her. Several of the vermin around her all at once turned toward their comrades and began muttering, whispering behind paws to one another as they viewed this display before them. The rest of the horde just stared at her incredulous, while the hares, Lord Broadstripe, and the warlord just continued to simmer at each other.

"What is this nonsense?" The rough, grating voice of the warlord sounded out from the back, twirling the curved blade of his cutlass around in a circle. He stopped it occasionally to grasp it and motion a violent slash with it before continuing with his sword handling, as though he longed to slice a creature open with the blade. The weasel glanced around at his seemingly stunned horde and cried screamed at them in fury, "What are you waiting for! Kill the badger! Don't hesitate! Just kill it!"

"Charge, charge," the chant began at the back of the horde, and slowly spread to the front as the fear for their Master overcame their desire not to kill the mousemaid in front of them.

"You heard him, chaps! He'll mutilate that poor gel unless we do something about it! He only cares to conquer," Colonel Crenshaw suddenly piped up from his position on the edge of the front line. "We should charge while we can! For Redwall!"

Lord Broadstripe hardly acknowledged his colonel and merely raised his broadsword pointed to the sky and roared, "CHARGE!"

"Eulalia! Eulalia! Salamandastron! Blood and vinegar," the battle cries sang out from the Long Patrollers in near unison as they worked themselves up into frenzy, bearing their teeth at their enemies and pretending to lash out at them with their knives. Despite the hostility of the Long Patrol, Adrin glared at them from where she was and refused to move from her suicidal position.

"No, don't listen to them," she turned to the vermin and addressed them directly. "Look at you, you're better than them! They are like barbarians, just yearning to cut your throats, but do you _really_ want to cut theirs?" A few creatures smart enough to be befuddled by this only stared at her, while half of them shouted their own battle cries and responded with a positive to her question. The last half simply seemed to want to drop their arms and leave.

"Don't you dare desert me, or I'll make you wish you'd never been born," the weasel warlord shouted from behind, stepping forward to grab a hesitating rat by the ear and haul him backward. It squealed allowed, protesting and begging for his master not to kill him, but with no avail. The cutlass flashed iridescent in the sunlight then a lifeless body with one, deep slash across its chest lay at the feet of the creature with his eyes still wide. Those who'd heard the screams cut off sharply shuddered and began to jog forward, driven by their fear.

"No, no, wait," Adrin screamed forcefully, trying to stall them. But suddenly the Long Patrol was sprinting forward, desperate to meet their foe. The mousemaid stared back between the two titanic forces for several moments before the barest trace of fear registered in her deep blue eyes. Closing her eyes, she waited with her arms still spread trying to stop something that refused not to.

"NO! NO! Adrin, NO," McKaid screamed so loudly his voice was shrill. His heart pounding he brought forth his sword, his eyes bloody with rage and desperation, and rushed into the conflict. Martin's sword shined as he brought it up, and then down, on any foolish enough to get into his way. The only thought pounding in his head was that he had to get to Adrin. _I have to see her safe, I have to see her safe, I have to see her safe…_

He'd never seen so many creatures cover a fairly short distance so fast, no matter that they were contesting to fight each other's blood. And he'd seen her, standing there in the middle of it all without any motion of ducking or finding her way out of it before they engulfed her. She was somewhere in the thick of the fighting.

Several minutes passed and yet he felt no closer to the middle, but now he had several long cuts tracing up his wrist to his elbow, dripping blood. He ignored them and pressed forward, intent on finding his objective and planned on using vicious means to extract her from the battle, which raged like a hurricane around them.

All motion stopped, though, long before he reached the center. Her scream cut through the air like a deafening clap of thunder, suddenly bringing the mass to their senses. Vermin and hare eyes alike widened in horror and astonishment when realization reached their dazed minds. McKaid thought his heart stopped when the scream screeched through the air, seeming to shatter reality around him. He reeled back as though he'd been struck a heavy blow, with his sword dragging a furrow into the sand. The mouse somehow regained his balance, and hunched over clutching his heart with a free paw. Tears already clouded his eyes.

_No, no, it cannot be. I can't possibly have failed her,_ McKaid thought to himself as he slowly, tenderly began pushing the crowd aside to make his way to Adrin. Vermin noticing this stepped back from him with widened eyes and they followed his slow progress through the masses surrounding him. They stepped back.

It seemed to take forever, but McKaid finally broke through the file surrounding the mousemaid in the heart of the battle. And there she was. Adrin blinked slowly at him and smiled weakly, one of her outstretched hands from where it had fallen twitched as she struggled to reach him. He regained a measure of his mobility and ran out to meet her; he grabbed the paw gently and sank to his knees, staring unbelieving into his greatest friend's weakly smiling visage.

Blinking her once clear blue eyes at him she opened her mouth to say something to him. He cut her off before she could, "No, don't talk. Just stay quiet and wait. We'll save you, don't worry." Though he knew it was fruitless looking at the great, long gash working its way down from her breast to her leg.

Adrin only shook her head at his hopeless comments, but the smile did not disappear from her face. She opened her mouth again, and finally said, "T-thank you, Mc…Kaid. Wh-what you said th-the other day r-really helped me. I-I couldn't have…done it without you. D-don't mourn me to-too long."

McKaid was already trying to respond, but his throat constricted and he was choked by tears. Struggling to gain breath and tell her something the tears flowed unrestrained from his eyes as he stared down at her, before shaking his head in refusal to believe that her mortality became evident that day.

And then she was gone. Her beautiful blue eyes were glazed over in her final ascent to the Gates of the Dark Forest, and her hand fell limp in his grasp. The red gash was the only, ugly reminder that she was no longer among the living, and not just sleeping. McKaid shook his head in protest in her having left so soon and finally managed to whisper one word, "No."

As his mind continued to grasp the understanding of what had just undertaken him he heard voices above and noticed for the first time, the weasel warlord standing at paw, his cutlass wreathed in tiny veins of blood as they dripped from the tip. He wasn't staring at Adrin's broken figure so much as he was staring at the crowd around him. Hares standing shoulder-to-shoulder with vermin slow, but all in unison turned their gaze from the dead pacifist to the one who murdered her. The sneering, gloating expression of victory over the hindrance was suddenly replaced by a panicking fear.

Vermin who'd only minutes before wanted nothing but the Long Patrollers blood flowing on their blades were peering at their leader so coldly McKaid was only slightly surprised snow wasn't already falling. His mind struggled to grasp the situation at hand still when a rat stepped forward and whispered, though it was loud enough for all to hear, "What 'ave you done? There is no 'onor in that. You killed 'er! 'e killed the mousemaid!"

"What do you mean?" The weasel tried to sneer bravely, but a tremble could be heard in his voice, and he involuntarily stepped back, bringing his sword up to point at the soldier under his rank. "We kill plenty of innocents all the time. Even children! Why should her death matter?"

"_You_ kill those innocents," McKaid suddenly whispered for her side. He'd brought his eyes up to lock with the green ones of the warlord, and he stood up slowly. His paws, still numb from the impact of Adrin's death, clenched and unclenched as though they begged for the feel of Martin's sword in their paw to take the offending weasel's head off. "You drive your horde to kill those innocents! They only kill them to spare their own lives! You monster, _you _kill them!"

A rumbling shout of ascent started from the front and made its way back through the ranks as the hares and vermin picked up their arms and bristled with them. They closed in around the warlord who began gasping painfully for breath and swinging his sword haphazard at the creatures calling for his blood. McKaid widened eyes darted around as he took in this display and suddenly screamed, "Stop this! It wasn't just _him_ who killed her! It was you! All of you! Even the badger lord of Salamandastron! If it wasn't for your hate toward each other, your refusal to make a truce this could've been prevented. But no! She gave her life for the peace between our two kinds. Honor her that, at least! Her death will not be repaid by such hostility. No, give him a trial then give him a fate that suits him best. Justice is required."

Short, choppy sentences were all he could manage as he tried to shelve his grief and play the diplomat in place of Adrin on short notice. But with every word he spoke brought him that much closer to the dam he'd made to crumble and unleash the howling within him. With every word he could feel his heart tearing itself apart within him.

He broke from the proceedings immediately after, and then sprinted his way to a place on the other side of the mountain, with only the thought of getting away. It was several miles later he collapsed on the ground, unable to go any further, and prayed aloud, "Why, Martin, why!"

McKaid's question remained unanswered.


	8. Epilogue

Epilogue

_We just received the terrible news a few days later on the death of Adrin…as well as the sword of Martin. A very nice cadet by the name of Marbury ran this news and the sword to us as quickly as she could then, when she had gotten here, related to us every detail of the amazing story of Adrin and McKaid's journey, and what ensued afterward. _

_And it is to our sadness that we learn McKaid will not be returning to us. He personally gave Marbury the sword and sent word with her that he wouldn't return to the Abbey. He gave no clue as to when he might be back, if ever._

_It is here we learn, though, of a curious sea otter by the name of Sanbar, who apparently turned around just in sight of Redwall and headed back toward Salamandastron. This is a most puzzling thing and we are still wondering why he wouldn't come into the Abbey for a nights rest and good food. He stated no reasons to Marbury, but McKaid and he left heading North. We do hope those two share some good adventures with each other._

_Peace. It cost Adrin her life, but in the long term she accomplished what she had set out to do. Many of the vermin in the army did indeed have homes when she addressed them, and they voted to return to them after a contract of peace was drawn up. Those who did not have families will be founded homes on the coast near Salamandastron. Bad blood still exists between the weasels and rats and hares, but they're willing to work out their differences to live harmoniously—as Adrin would've wanted. They will not fight each other, and it is decided that at the last possible option they will band together to fend off invading armies, should they be unable to persuade those enemies to a truce._

_Adrin, may your spirit live at Salamandstron to guide those who are following your idea, and may you rest in peace as well. Martin, the Abbey implores you to watch over her, and so do I. _

_Farewell, Adrin,_

_Cambin, the Recorder of Redwall and Gatekeeper._


End file.
